Chapter 102

“I’m bored.”

“It’s work. And the humans are watching. Control yourself.”

“What does it matter if they’re looking at me?”

“… It’s unbecoming.”

“Once this is over, I won’t see them again, so why should I care?”

“Even so, we are Titans. As a superior race, we need to set an example for the inferior races.”

“Hah! I don’t understand why all of you are so full of hot air. Isn’t it embarrassing to act all high and mighty just because you’re lucky enough to be born a Titan?”

A female Gigas arrived, summoned by Terato to Pohelrn.

Eremai lay comfortably on the ground, looking at the city wall of Pohelrn, and snickered at Grandidi.

“Those morons who only have their size and can’t create anything, just breaking things, acting like this is their world since the dragons disappeared, really annoy me.”

Grandidi didn’t deny Eremai’s words and fell silent.

Dragons had been the nemeses of Terato, existing even before the Titans were created, and were the only natural enemies of the Titans, unrivalled in strength.

With the dragons gone, the only enemies the Titans faced were the Titans themselves, and their pride was sky-high.

Father Terato aspired to become the supreme being of this world, so it might be reasonable for those gluttons who only waste food to inflate with false bravado.

“Beryl, look at the trash that did this here. It’s humiliating to think that we are of the same Gigas race. How can they embarrass themselves with such a request when they don’t even know what shame is? Is it that disgraceful for me to simply lie on the ground?”

“Um…”

Grandidi recalled the events that took place before, letting out a sigh at Eremai’s sharp words.

“Grandidi. Eremai. Take me with you.”

“…What?”

“That lowly exile suddenly barged in and messed things up, but it was originally my job.”

“That’s true, but for now, our father has entrusted this task to us, hasn’t he?”

“Are you trying to steal my credit?”

“…What?”

Eremai’s face crumpled at Beryl’s words.

“The little humans were nothing to write home about. The strange ones are those lowly exiles. Surely, they must have used the power of the humans that Father was worried about to resort to cowardly tactics! But I! My subordinates were the ones who killed them! There’s only one left who’s practically nothing but a corpse! Only that! Only that needs to be killed…!”

“You little bastard. I’ve heard.”

“Eremai.”

“Let go of me, Grandidi.”

Anger flickered in Eremai’s brown eyes.

“Fuck. That idiot got wrecked and is throwing a tantrum because he attacked a bunch of little exiles.”

“What?”

“Wasn’t what Father told us to just deliver a message? You little humans, with your eyes spinning, charging at the exiles?”

“Watch your mouth. I am a Gigas.”

“I’m a Gigas too, you little brat. You should watch your mouth. You and your trash buddies have been acting all high and mighty lately, implying you’ve done something. Did you really think those tiny humans would rush at us saying we’re nothing? If you come back with a broken jaw and have skilled craftsmen waste their effort correcting your ugly mug, you should just keep your mouth sealed and live quietly.”

Eremai spat on the ground and growled.

“Show some respect, you worthless piece of shit. What? You think you can take credit? It’s embarrassing that you’re going out just to let off steam after getting your ass kicked. Just get lost.”

“…You’ll regret it.”

“Regret my ass.”

Eremai gave Beryl the latest fashionable finger gesture.

“…Damn it. I should have not just insulted him back then, but given him another beating. Dirty bastard.”

Eremai murmured as he looked at the grand city wall of Pohelrn.

Eremai and Grandidi’s path to Pohelrn, of course, mirrored Beryl’s.

And they saw it.

A village of humans, now in ruins, bearing the signs of giants.

Though beasts and insects had invaded, it was no trace that would vanish quickly.

The remaining signs suggested that it was not hard to guess how atrociously Beryl and his thugs had acted.

They discovered six such villages.

There might have been even more.

The little humans Eremai met while asking for directions to Pohelrn had intelligence rivaling that of Titans, had their own culture, and showed enough responsibility to send children to evacuate even when faced with danger.

By the time they reached Pohelrn, they saw a city as magnificent as the villages where Titans lived.

The city walls towered, higher than the Titans themselves, enclosing a vast area.

Those tiny humans who had achieved such a feat could not be considered lives to be discarded by Beryl and his thugs as worthless or meaningless.

“Superior race my ass.”

Doing things they weren’t even told to do, and even failing to properly deliver messages? They call themselves a superior race? Rulers of the world? What nonsense.

How could humans who only understood size and lacked the sense of honor and responsibility to dominate the little humans?

Grandidi, while he could not fully grasp Eremai’s thoughts, remained silent.

Perhaps softened by Grandidi’s demeanor, Eremai scratched his tousled hair casually while lying down and said.

“Thanks to Beryl’s actions, it seems they’re wary of us over there. It might take a while for a response, right? To the little humans, we are terrifying beings. We might need to wait a bit longer, so let’s take it easy. Although it seems unlikely, there might be something.”

“…Hmm.”

Grandidi seemed to find some reasoning in that and scratched his chin.

“Moreover, since everything here is tiny, we don’t have a proper place to rest, do we? Unless you want to lean against that city wall.”

“…No, thanks.”

“Good idea. It’d be complete chaos if thirty monsters that just killed all their companions were resting against the city walls.”

“…Hmm.”

Grandidi didn’t plan to lie around like Eremai, but was seeking a reasonably suitable spot to sit.

He could probably just plant his sword and lean against it.

At that moment, an unusual occurrence took place.

“…Huh?”

Before the city wall of Pohelrn lay a plain.

Meaning it was a place where winds blew strong.

The opposite side where the giants stood was where ripe barley would sway in the autumn breeze, appearing like a golden wave.

But for a moment, all movement seemed to halt.

The giants, searching for a resting place under Grandidi’s order, turned their gazes towards one spot.

There stood a tiny human clad in a shimmering golden garb, reminiscent of the scales of a dragon recently stabbed by Gigas.

‘…When?’

A question arose in everyone’s mind.

As mentioned, this was a vast plain with unobstructed views.

Moreover, with thirty-two Titans armed with swords standing, there was no way a tiny human could have approached without being noticed.

“…Pretty.”

In this bizarre situation, one of them suddenly blurted out that it was pretty.

Yet, Eremai couldn’t help but understand the fool’s words.

Beyond mere size, it was the proportions and appearance that were unseen by a Titan.

To Eremai, who considered himself somewhat more capable in creation compared to the otherwise foolish Titans, the little human appeared beautiful, irrespective of their species.

If you kept the proportions but increased the size to match a Titan, they would surely be an outstanding beauty.

Though Eremai was female, she felt like she’d want to try dating the little human at least once.

…Or was it not a woman?

The unusual visitor, holding what looked like a tiny silver sword, moved towards the gathered Titans.

With her small body, she passed among the towering Titans standing like trees, showing no signs of fear or pressure.

All the Titans, including Eremai and Grandidi, suddenly felt a strange aura wash over them as chills ran down their spines.

Eremai, who had been lying leisurely, quickly jumped up.

The glowing human, wrapped in golden light, walked slowly as if observing the faces of the surrounding giants.

It was as if nothing was felt even though she was right in front of them. That made her an even stranger human.

The sound of a human walking on the ground was absent, leaving a silence filled only with breathing, and surprisingly, the Titans realized they were tense.

‘…What is… what is happening?’

Eremai, sweating, thought as she gazed at the suddenly appeared tiny human.

The tiny human stopped walking.

At that moment, the Titans’ tension peaked.

Ignoring the Titans’ tension, the tiny human’s lips parted silently.

“Beryl.”

At those words, all Titans flinched.

“Do you know the giant named Beryl? He might have recently injured his jaw.”

The tiny human’s gaze was precisely fixed on Eremai.

For whatever reason, it seemed the tiny human was confident that Eremai was the leader among the Titans.

“…Well.”

“That’s not a very good answer.”

The tiny human replied nonchalantly.

A beautiful face.

Jewel-like green eyes.

But Eremai felt a moment of fear, staring into those unexpressive green eyes, unable to tell what thoughts lay behind.

‘Scared? Of me? Of what?’

In an instant, feeling fear under the pressure of the little human embarrassed Eremai.

“Even if I know, I can’t tell you.”

Eremai sharpened her mind and glared at the tiny human.

Yet, the tiny human didn’t react to Eremai’s words in any particular way.

Just standing there.

After the short exchange, when no further action came, one of the Titans, finding the silence suffocating, reached out a hand towards the tiny human.

“Idiot! Don’t touch her! You’ll hurt her!”

Eremai shouted.

Even a light gesture from a Titan could have deadly consequences for the tiny human.

Moreover, compared to other humans, this one was even smaller.

For Eremai, who remembered the horrors caused by Beryl, she didn’t want to harm any more of the little humans.

But what happened next exceeded Eremai’s imagination.

“…Huh?”

The hand reaching toward the tiny human halted.

At first, everyone thought that they had stopped at Eremai’s shout.

However, the Titan who had extended his hand remained frozen in place without pulling it back, and upon noticing something was wrong, they approached and shook his shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

Snap.

As they shook it, they heard a crackling sound.

And at that moment, several vertical lines appeared on the body of the Titan who had reached out.

The lines grew larger and began to turn dark red.

“…Huh?”

A muffled sound came from the Titan whose shoulder they had been shaking.

Thud! Thud!

Simultaneously, the Titan’s corpse fell apart, split into several pieces.

The Titan stood frozen, holding only a part of the shoulder it had been gripping, watching blood pour from their dismembered companion.

With that, a clear and quiet voice rang out once more.

“I’ll ask again. Where is Beryl?”

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